Beny, Laura Nyantung

Professor of Law

Since joining Michigan Law in 2003, Professor Laura N. Beny has taught Corporate Finance, Enterprise Organization, International Finance, The Public Corporation, Law and Development, and Law and Finance. Her research and teaching interests include a wide range of subjects in law and economics, finance, political economy, and international development. Her research has been published in the American Economic Review, American Law and Economics Review, Journal of Corporation Law, and Harvard Business Law Review, among others. Her work has been cited in numerous media, including The Economist, The Age (Australia), Global Risk Regulator, and in congressional testimony. She is co-editor with Sondra Hale of the book Sudan's Killing Fields: Political Violence and Fragmentation (Red Sea Press, 2014). In addition to her scholarly work, Professor Beny has published numerous opinion pieces on Africa, particularly Sudan and South Sudan, in various international media, such as Newsweek International, Africa.com, and Al Jazeera, among others. She also has served as a legal consultant on numerous projects in the United States and Africa. Before coming to Michigan, she practiced private and pro bono law at Debevoise & Plimpton, an international law firm based in New York City. Professor Beny earned her MA and PhD in economics at Harvard University, her JD at Harvard Law School, and her BA in economics at Stanford University. She is currently serving a two-year term (2015–2017) on the University of Michigan African Studies Center's executive committee.

Recent Publications

The Law and Economics of Public Global Efforts to Prevent and Punish Genocide. Working Paper.​

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Diversity Among Elite American Law Firms: A Signal of Quality and Prestige. Univ. of Michigan Law & Economics. Working Paper.Full text: SSRN

Co-author. Analysis of the Republic of South
Sudan's Accession to the East African Community: Benefits, Detriments
and Recommendations. M. Snyder, co-author. Univ. of Michigan Public Law
Research Paper, no. 337. Working Paper, 2013.Full Text:SSRN​

"The Political Economy of Insider Trading Laws and Enforcement: Law vs. Politics? International Evidence." In
Research Handbook on Insider Trading, edited by S. Bainbridge, 266-98. Research Handbooks in Corporate Law and Governance. Northampton, Mass.: Elgar, 2013.MLaw CatalogFull Text: SSRN

Curriculum Interest Areas

Activities

Featured in an
exhibit of national law faculty put together by student groups at Harvard Law School. The professors were selected because of "the diverse perspectives they bring to the law through their backgrounds and scholarship." Professor Beny, in particular, was selected for the "tremendous scholarship she's created in the field of corporate law, economics, and international development." November 2016.

Peer reviewed articles for the
Journal of African Law, the
European Journal of Law and Economics, the Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money, and the American Journal of Comparative Law, 2016.

Gave a book review of South Sudan: A Slow Liberation by Edward Thomas (Zed Press, 2015) in The Historian (forthcoming 2016).

Invited to serve on the Michigan Sustainability Cases curriculum advisory group, a University of Michigan Third Century Initiative, 2016.​

Participated in the Diversity Talk series, "Gender and Faculty Diversity, Abigail Stewart of U-M ADVANCE, in conversation with Laura Beny," sponsored by Michigan Law's Program in Race, Law & History, October 5, 2015.​

Elected to serve a two-year term on the University of Michigan's African Studies Center's executive committee, September 2015.

Presented research on "Diversity, Performance, and Prestige among Elite U.S. Law Firms" at the American Bar Foundation's Second Annual Conference of the Research Group on Legal Diversity, Northwestern University Law School, May 2013.

Moderated a panel discussion on "Is President Obama Bad for Business" at the Alfred L. Edwards 37th Annual BBSA Conference, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, February 2013.